SMS messaging remains one of the most direct and effective ways to engage prospects and customers. As more brands adopt text messaging in their sales and marketing efforts, one question repeatedly arises: How often should we send SMS messages? Research from Upland reveals that the optimal mobile messaging frequency maxes out at around 10-12 messages sent per month. But read on… that may not be the case for your industry or your subscribers’ motivation to opt-in.
Below is an overview of the factors to consider—from setting audience expectations to maintaining value over frequency—and how different industries might adapt these best practices for optimal results.
Table of Contents
Setting Expectations
A successful SMS program starts when someone opts into your messaging list. Make sure your signup process clearly states:
- Approximate number of messages they can expect to receive monthly or weekly.
- Type of content (e.g., promotions, updates, alerts) so recipients know what they’re signing up for.
Setting transparent expectations makes people less likely to feel surprised or overwhelmed by your messages. This trust can help reduce unsubscribe rates and build credibility—two essentials for any sales or marketing strategy.
Providing Tangible Value
Before settling on a frequency, ask yourself: What do I have to offer that is genuinely valuable to my audience?
- Sales Alerts & Promotions: Delivering exclusive deals, early-bird offers, or limited-time discounts can motivate quick action.
- Educational Content: Tips, tricks, or useful information relevant to your product category help maintain interest in your brand.
- Personalized Reminders: Appointments, subscription renewals, and other timely nudges show consideration for your customers’ needs.
When each SMS carries real value, customers are more likely to perceive messages as worth their time—making them less likely to opt-out and more likely to make purchases or take the next step in the sales funnel.
Avoiding Subscriber Fatigue
One of the biggest pitfalls of SMS marketing is over-communication. Text messages are immediate and personal—sending too many can lead to frustration and unsubscribes.
- Monitor Engagement Metrics: Track your unsubscribe rates, open rates (if using MMS), and redemption metrics for coupons or offers. Sudden spikes in opt-outs signal you may be texting too often.
- Segment Your Audience: Tailor frequency and content to different segments based on engagement, purchase history, or browsing behavior. Highly engaged recipients might welcome more frequent updates, while newer or less-engaged recipients may prefer fewer messages.
- Implement Time-of-Day or Day-of-Week Strategies: Understand when your audience is most receptive. Sending frequent messages at inopportune times (e.g., very early morning) can backfire.
Striking the right balance will keep your brand top of mind—without wearing out the welcome mat.
Different Industries, Different Results
Different industries inevitably have varying SMS frequency standards because customers expect unique types of value and information from each sector. Below is a closer look at why frequency expectations differ and the considerations that shape these best practices.
Retail & E-commerce
- Sales and Promotions Drive Urgency: Retail customers often want updates on limited-time discounts, flash sales, or special events. During high seasons (like BFCM), sending more frequent texts—usually 2–4 per week—is acceptable because the messages carry timely offers shoppers don’t want to miss.
- Avoiding Overload: Outside of peak seasons, many stores scale back to 1–2 texts per week. Shoppers aren’t in buying mode all year, so too many messages can feel spammy. Retailers focus on relevance and personalization to keep audiences engaged without causing fatigue.
Hospitality & Travel
- Time-Sensitive Updates: Flight changes, hotel check-ins, and booking confirmations are critical messages. Customers expect and depend on these notifications, sometimes daily or even multiple times a day if travel plans change.
- Upselling and Cross-Selling: Travel companies may send additional offers—like room upgrades or dining packages—once or twice a week. While these can be lucrative revenue streams, the messages must be carefully timed so they don’t interrupt or overwhelm travelers who are already juggling itineraries.
Fitness & Wellness
- Motivation and Consistency: People join fitness and wellness programs to build habits and stay accountable. Daily or near-daily messages with tips, workout reminders, or inspirational content can help subscribers stick to their goals.
- Balance Between Value and Oversaturation: These audiences can lose motivation if bombarded by salesy texts. Programs often intersperse promotional offers (like class discounts or referral bonuses) at a lower frequency—maybe once a week—so as not to dilute the core value of ongoing motivation and support.
Financial Services
- Real-Time Alerts: Users expect prompt notifications about important transactions or potential fraud. These can be daily or even immediate, because financial security is paramount. Customers are less likely to opt out when the texts contain critical information about their accounts.
- Subtle Sales Messages: Financial institutions face stricter regulations and a greater need to maintain trust. Sending promotional content (e.g., credit card offers or rate updates) too frequently can raise compliance concerns and reduce customer confidence. As a result, many institutions keep promotional messages to 1–4 times a month.
Each industry’s SMS frequency choices hinge on balancing customers’ needs, timeliness, and perceived value. By understanding what your audience cares about most—whether it’s a flash sale, a vital travel update, a motivational nudge, or a banking alert—you can optimize messaging cadence and boost engagement without driving customers away.
Analysis
This research from Upland compares two SMS marketing programs—labeled here as Blue and Orange—across 50 days. It tracks the total subscribers on each marketer’s list following multiple outbound text-message blasts. The vertical axis shows the subscriber count, while the horizontal axis shows the number of days since the start of the campaign. The Blue line remains relatively steady, whereas the Orange line experiences a significant drop.
Over the same time frame, Blue sent 4 outbound blasts—about one message every nine days—while Orange sent 29 blasts, or one message every two days. That’s more than a fourfold difference in frequency.
Sending too many texts (Orange’s approach) can undermine the personal nature of SMS and lead to mass unsubscribes if each message doesn’t deliver compelling value. In this chart, ~40% of Orange’s subscribers dropped off after receiving frequent SMS blasts that failed to justify their interruptive nature. Meanwhile, Blue’s more conservative frequency, coupled with better timing and value, maintained a stable subscriber base and avoided the high churn seen by Orange.
Takeaways
Below are key takeaways for striking the right text messaging cadence:
- Ask: Customize a preference page by the type and frequency of the messages you’re sending and empower your subscribers to choose.
- Start Conservatively: If you don’t have that option, begin with a lower frequency, such as once per week, and gradually increase based on positive feedback and engagement data.
- Test & Measure: Conduct A/B tests with different frequencies. Assess open rates (for MMS), click-through rates (CTR), and unsubscribe rates. Use these findings to refine your SMS strategy.
- Segment: One-size-fits-all rarely applies. Use segmentation and personalization—consider grouping by location, purchase history, or engagement levels.
- Stay Compliant: Always respect opt-in and opt-out requirements. Laws like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the U.S. require explicit permission to send SMS marketing messages.
Finding the optimal SMS frequency involves balancing audience expectations, delivering consistent value, and monitoring key engagement metrics. Different industries and campaigns demand varying approaches. Yet the core principle remains consistent: focus on what is most relevant and beneficial to your audience. By doing so, you’ll maintain strong customer relationships, maximize sales and marketing outcomes, and avoid the pitfalls of subscriber fatigue.
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